30 June 2008

we took a little roadtrip to san francisco last week. which means that I am currently busting at the seams with images and words and colors and hallelujahs and thankyous and beautiful people. I'm feeling completely overwhelmed by all that is swimming around in my head. I'm slowly processing information, I'm filing it in different places. I'm wallowing in what can only be described as post-roadtrip euphoria.

please be forewarned: it's about to be all about san francisco, all week long. turn your head if you are unable to stomach that. I am a girl who likes to share and I'll not have anyone say otherwise. besides, the pictures are pretty. I promise.

if you haven't received an email from me, it's because I haven't sent any. we took our vacation three weeks early (see above, please) and it threw off my entire swap organization game plan. the emails, they are coming!

19 June 2008

the bike, she is mine. and this is because I was on a roll that day. I'd been to a couple of church basement sales and I was feeling lucky. when I saw her parked outside my favorite thrift shop, I knew I'd be no match for her wobbly charms. actually, the first thing I spied was that basket. that's what sold me. wait, is that wrong? that I almost bought a bike because of the basket? in my defense, there was also a bell. another total bonus. but I knew I couldn't buy a bike without riding it first. no, I could not.

so I had the nice lady who worked there unlock the bike for me. which is when I sort of panicked. suddenly, I couldn't remember the last time I rode a bike. imaginary fingers inside my head frantically flipped through file after file after file of memory. college, high school, junior high... junior high, maybe. big maybe. 20 some years since my last bike ride? really? now I wasn't sure if I was even physically capable of riding. and there was the issue of my skirt, my clunky dr. scholl sandals. what if I wiped out in the parking lot? in front of the nice lady, my husband, my son and the three people looking through piles of gently stained blouses and pablo cruise cassette tapes? I hiked my leg up over the tan seat anyway. off I went. and it's true what they say. they don't say what they say just to be saying it. it's true, you never forget.

I am now the proud owner of one very sweet tan and white slightly rusted bicycle. with a basket and a bell. the flowers came later. I'll tell you, I love her. I forgot how much fun it is to ride a bike. around the neighborhood I go, over and over. I can't stop grinning, I love it. how could I have gone for so long without riding a bike? how? I'm 9 years-old all over again, I'm zipping all over the place, I'm one step away from popping wheelies.

number 9 off the list, done. and probably the best thing I've done in a long, long time.

16 June 2008

the sign-up for the postcard swap is now officially closed. and I am officially shocked by the overwhelming response. about a week ago, the mister wondered if maybe I should close the swap sign-up a little early. um, you do have a life and a family to look after, he said. but I just couldn't do it. partially because I wanted to honor what I'd originally said but also because the comments and emails kept coming in. I couldn't stop it, I just couldn't. wow. thank you, all you lovers of summer, you lovers of postcard swaps! you are from all over the country, all over the world. my inbox is singing, my humble little laptop is all abuzz with your enthusiasm.

the details will be coming your way soon, friends. you should receive an email from me in the next couple of weeks with the next round of instructions. a few of you left comments and expressed interest but did not leave an email address. can't include you on the list if I don't have an email address. if that's you, you know what to do. and if you haven't already, feel free to join the flickr group. not required at all, just something there to join if you like.

for the record, I can't send a postcard to everyone this year. I wish I could, I really do but like my husband says, I have a life, a family to take care of and besides that, the cost of the postage alone would kill me. I'll be putting myself on a couple of the lists, though. and I promise to be as diplomatic about it as I possibly can.

so here's the part where I ask you to be patient with me as I sort out all the details, put together the groups and inevitably make so many mistakes. the details, they are coming. they are, they are, yes they are.

03 June 2008

first of june= unofficially summer. even if it doesn't feel like it, even if portland doesn't know it yet. the first of june is when the sandals and floaty skirts come out, it's when I start thinking about things like box fans, lightning bugs and baby pools. I get serious about gardening. speaking of which, my strawberry plants are looking awesome. anyway. june means open windows. it means picnics, yard sales and road trips. and projects. good lord, the projects. june is for the starting of new projects, june is the new january. only without all that pesky dreary weather. unless, of course, you live in portland.

(more of my postcards)

so it was this time last year that I organized my first postcard swap. when I initially put the idea out there, I had no idea so many people would be interested. 20, I thought. 30 tops. when the final count hit 80 something, I was shocked. I decided I needed to break folks up into smaller groups of 12-15. high on some kind of crazy summer happy, I put myself on every list. which is a little nuts, yes, I realize this now. but I'd decided early on to send a postcard to each person who signed up.

(the great wall of postcards, about to be dismantled and *gulp* mailed out)

which meant I made a lot of postcards. oh friends, so many postcards. wore down more gluesticks than I'd care to mention, cut up enough little squares of paper to cover a small third world country. I spread my supplies out everywhere, took over the entire bed, the entire house. each night, ward would try to fit his body into the inch of space I'd so generously left for him on his side of the bed. he would gently (okay and not so gently) push supplies out of the way, curl up into a little ball and try to fall asleep. meanwhile, I woke up with bits of paper stuck to my legs, my arms, found them hiding in the folds of my nightgown.

somewhere around the 50th postcard, I wondered what I'd gotten myself into. but sending out 80 or something postcards also meant that I'd be receiving 80 or something postcards.

(my wall of summer, thanks to all the delightful swap peeps)

actually, I received a little bit of lovely summer mail art everyday for about a month. which made all the hard work absolutely totally worth it. the postcards, they came from all over. some from different countries, many more from all over the united states. each day I found something new waiting for me in my mailbox. a bright-colored collage or painting, an old-fashioned summer recipe, a favorite summer poem. everything from a deconstructed watermelon to the simplicity of the grape popsicle. everyone had a different take on summer and by the end of the season, they'd all found a place on my kitchen wall. which is exactly where they stayed until the night before thanksgiving. I could barely stand to do it but the time finally came to take them all down.

so I just can't not do it all again. and I can't wait for portland to bring me summer because holy crap, she is really dragging her feet. portland, I'm going to pretend that it's not cold and rainy outside today. I am going to shut my eyes and pretend it isn't so. while I am waiting for the sun, I will be working on summer-themed postcards. well, hopefully. I need a few people to sign up to make the second annual summer postcard swap an official thing. so if you're interested, please leave your name and email address in the comment section below or click on my profile where you'll find the option to email me. same guidelines as last year and soon there'll be a new flickr group to join. I'll allow a couple weeks for folks to sign up and then close the swap on june 15th. you'll receive an email with instructions and a list of names and addresses. and then the fun really begins. hopefully, the sun will be out by then. hopefully, summer will be in full swish.